diff --git a/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc b/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
index 35d2faa608e..bb256f0cf0a 100644
--- a/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
+++ b/tensorflow/core/platform/s3/s3_file_system.cc
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ Status S3FileSystem::GetChildren(const string& dir,
   string bucket, prefix;
   TF_RETURN_IF_ERROR(ParseS3Path(dir, true, &bucket, &prefix));
 
-  if (prefix.empty() || prefix.back() != '/') {
+  if (!prefix.empty() && prefix.back() != '/') {
     prefix.push_back('/');
   }